A love affair with big leaf magnolias

Ask my sister Emily and she'll tell you how much I love big leaf magnolia trees. She’s been with me hiking when we found groves of them at Idylwild. The leaves are indeed big – each single leaf is one foot to three feet long. These leaves are captivating on the tree as well as on the ground during the winter, which is how I first realized that we had these trees in Lawrence County, Tennessee.

Big leaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla) trees are all over our property, but they're not all that common in general. They are native in the conditions of the southeast, in warm, wet soils. This map shows below where you can find big leaf magnolias, naturally. Lawrence County, Tennessee is located in southern, middle Tennessee in a small swath that is included on this map. Despite the fact that there are actually very few places where the big leaf magnolia lives and thrives, magically they do so on our property. It turns out that it is hard for seeds to germinate naturally because the needed conditions are so specific. Now that I know what to look for, I know that we have so many seed pods scattered on our forest floors. They remind me of rattles and make me smile.

Because of their season and the timing of our visits, we have not yet seen the 8 to 14 inch flowers that grace these trees and create the seed pods. They will be something to behold, as they are the largest tree flowers found in the U.S. and are among the largest in the world.

We have specimen of all sizes – from seedling to full-size, which average 30 to 40 feet –  of big leaf magnolia at Idylwild. I have a fertile dream that one day there will be interest and we’ll be able to provide seedlings that sprout naturally for others who want to grow this tree. Let me know if that’s you!